


Steady As She Goes

by enigmaticblue



Category: Stargate - All Series, Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-20
Updated: 2010-12-20
Packaged: 2017-10-13 20:20:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/141373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enigmaticblue/pseuds/enigmaticblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The word most often used to describe Lorne is “steady,” so if he’s freaking out, there’s a real problem.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Steady As She Goes

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the hc_bingo prompt, “surprise sexswap”.

The day after John Sheppard receives his promotion to lieutenant colonel and the official position as military commander of Atlantis, General O’Neill hands him a stack of personnel files and says, “Time to pick your second-in-command, Sheppard.”

 

John gives the files a moment’s consideration before asking, “Any recommendations?”

 

O’Neill smirks at him. “Personally, I’d check out Major Evan Lorne. He’s a solid officer, and he’s levelheaded. He’s probably your best bet.”

 

John sets Lorne’s file aside, and then reads through every single record O’Neill has dumped on him out of a sense of duty.  In the end, he chooses Lorne after a quick, perfunctory interview, partly because of O’Neill’s recommendation. But it’s also because every single commanding officer has described Lorne as a reliable, competent officer, although not terribly creative. A good pilot, and a good marksman—well liked, played well with others, easy-going.

 

The word John sees over and over again in Lorne’s performance evaluations is “steady,” which is exactly what he needs. God knows Rodney is always berating John on his tendency to run headlong into trouble, so having an XO who stays _out_ of trouble can only be a good thing.

 

And, indeed, Lorne _is_ steady. His team certainly gets into less trouble than most of the others—including John’s. Lorne leaves on time, returns on time, and generally accomplishes his mission objective without getting anybody killed.

 

To be honest, John is waiting for the day when the weirdness of the Pegasus galaxy finally disturbs even Lorne’s unshakeable calm.

 

~~~~~

 

John happens to be discussing his next mission with Elizabeth—he’s finally back on duty after nearly turning into a giant bug—when the ‘gate goes active.

 

“We aren’t expecting anybody, are we?” John asks, running through a mental tally of the teams currently off-world.

 

Elizabeth shakes her head. “No, we’re not.”

 

They move as one to stand behind Chuck. “Major Lorne’s IDC,” Chuck says.

 

Lorne is early— _really_ early—and John feels a ripple of uneasiness. “Let ‘em through,” he orders.

 

When Lorne’s team walks through the ‘gate, they’re all moving under their own steam, and no one sports any obvious injuries. The problem is that there are three women and one man, and unless John is greatly mistaken, there should be two of each.

 

Cadman, Parrish, and Simpson are clustered around the third woman, who looks vaguely familiar. When John sees the name on the uniform—Lorne—he finally puts two and two together. He’s pretty sure that Elizabeth figures it out about the same time, judging by her sharp intake of breath, and the rest of the room isn’t too far behind. John can hear the hush spread over the room, and Lorne’s team tightens up their formation, shielding Lorne as best they can.

 

John approaches, noting that Lorne is wearing an expression best described as “freaked the fuck out,” and he supposes he knows how weird things have to get to ruffle Lorne’s feathers.

 

“What happened?” John asks.

 

Cadman is the first to respond. “We think it was the major’s gene, Colonel Sheppard. The Rishara were showing us their sacred temple, and there was a spot on the floor. You can’t see it until it lights up, and—” She makes a gesture towards Lorne. “The Rishara said it was a great honor, because a leader should have the opportunity to experience life as both male and female.”

 

“As best they could tell us, it’s temporary, sir.” Lorne finally speaks, his voice higher, lighter than it had been. “Legends say it lasts about a month.”

 

“Go get checked out,” Elizabeth orders. “We’ll debrief in an hour.”

 

John follows Elizabeth back up to her office; they still have business to finish up, and he’s feeling jittery and on edge.

 

He and Elizabeth sit and stare each other for a very long moment. “Well,” Elizabeth finally says, looking as shaken as Lorne had, as John feels. “This is… _different_.”

 

“You could say that,” John drawls, hiding his uneasiness with a slouch and a smirk.

 

Elizabeth gives him a sharp look. “Is this going to be a problem, John?”

 

“Not for me,” he says immediately, but he wonders how things might have been different if Elizabeth had been a man. He’s never had a problem serving with women, or—now— _under_ a woman. John _likes_ women; he’s always been comfortable with them.

 

The fact that Lorne is now a woman—whether temporarily or permanently—means less than the fact that Lorne _had been_ a man just a few hours before.

 

He meets Elizabeth’s eyes squarely, and she nods. “It’s a strange situation, I’ll grant you,” she says. “We’ll see what Carson has to say when he’s finished the exam. Now, I think we have business to complete.”

 

~~~~~

 

It turns out that Carson can’t tell them anything other than that Lorne is, indeed, now a woman, at least as far as his chromosomes are concerned.

 

“It might be temporary, it might not be,” Carson says, shooting an apologetic look at Lorne. “I’m sorry, Major. I’ll keep looking. Perhaps someone will find something in the database.”

 

Lorne snorted. “Yeah, we know how easy that is.”

 

John doesn’t issue a rebuke, and he tells himself that it’s not because Lorne is—looks like?—a woman now; it’s because he’s going through an ordeal.

 

“We’ll look, Major,” Elizabeth assures him.

 

Once the meeting is over, John holds Carson back. “Do I need to take him off the active duty roster for the time being?”

 

Carson grimaces. “Do that, at least for the next week. We’ll see after that, but whether the major will admit it or not, he’s going to have to make some adjustments.”

 

John doesn’t press for more information. He just nods and decides to get any additional information directly from Lorne.

 

John gives Lorne a couple of days to deal with the situation on his own before John calls him into his office. When Lorne arrives, he stands at attention, his back straight and jaw tight, and John knows Lorne isn’t handling this change well.

 

“Have a seat, major,” John says. Lorne sits on the edge of his seat, still ramrod straight, and although he doesn’t slouch nearly as badly as John does, he’s usually not quite so stiff. “Carson suggested we take you off the rotation for a week.”

 

Lorne’s jaw tightens, and John takes a moment to study him—the features are different, softer, less angular. The eyes are the same, though. “Whatever the doc says,” Lorne says quietly.

 

“You going to be ready to go back into the field in a week?” John asks.

 

Lorne nods. “Of course.”

 

“But you’ll tell me if you’re not,” John says.

 

Lorne won’t quite meet John’s eyes. “Yes, sir.”

 

“There’s no shame in taking whatever time you need to adjust.”

 

Lorne stares at the wall just beyond John’s head, but he says nothing.

 

“My door’s always open,” John says, and he winces as soon as the words leave his mouth. He had a couple of commanding officers who said the same thing to him, and he’d hated it then.

 

Lorne cracks a smile then. “That hurt to say, didn’t it, sir?”

 

John shrugs. “Yeah, a little bit. I still meant it, though.”

 

“Noted, sir.”

 

Lorne leaves, and John stares at the door a long time, wondering if his steady XO has finally come up against something that shakes him to his core.

 

He meets Rodney for chess that evening, and he focuses on the game rather than what’s been going on.

 

“How’s Lorne?” Rodney asks, and John suspects that it’s part of Rodney’s attempt to distract him enough to wrest victory from the jaws of defeat.

 

John moves a rook. “What do you care?”

 

Rodney frowns as he considers the board. “What the—dammit, Sheppard!”

 

John grins toothily. “Well?”

 

“Lorne isn’t totally brainless,” Rodney admits reluctantly. “He asks intelligent questions when he does light switch duty.”

 

John sighs. “Have you ever thought about it?”

 

“Hmm?” Rodney asks, his eyes narrowing in thought.

 

“About being a woman?”

 

“I suppose it would be a little like waking up and finding yourself in the body of a child, wouldn’t it?” Rodney asks thoughtfully. “Your insides no longer match your outsides, and other people would treat you accordingly.”

 

John considers that for a moment as he watches Rodney move a bishop. “Would you ever want to try it? Being a woman?”

 

Rodney doesn’t even think about it. The most intellectually curious person John knows says, “No, not really. Not unless I knew I could go back.”

 

That’s about how John feels, too.

 

~~~~~

 

John lives by two rules: first, never leave a person behind, and second, never fuck with someone under your command. It’s about morale, but it’s also about right and wrong. He’s been told that he gets too attached to his men—and women—but John doesn’t see it that way at all.

 

He takes care of the people who serve under him, and those who lead him, and he expects others to toe the same line.

 

So, when he comes around a corner and sees Lorne backed into a corner, with three Marines circling him, John’s eyes narrow. John knows that normally he wouldn’t think anything of it; Lorne had been friendly with Captain Hayes, Captain Andrews, and Lieutenant Koerber up until a couple of weeks before.

 

A few weeks ago, John would have seen a knot of officers shooting the shit; today, he sees the way the men range around Lorne, boxing him in. Lorne’s expression suggests wariness, discomfort, and as John approaches, he hears Hayes say, “So, what’s it like to look at a pair of tits in the mirror every day?”

 

It’s not something Hayes—or any of them—would have said to a female officer, and it’s highly inappropriate under the circumstances. John makes sure they hear his footfalls as he approaches, and he sees the guilty expressions on the other officers’ faces as he does.

 

In that moment, John knows that _they_ know just how far out of bounds they are.

 

“Lorne, I need to talk to you,” John says. “You three—I need you to take care of the inventory for the armory.”

 

“Sir—” Koerber begins, too stupid and too young to know when to cut his losses.

 

“Koerber, I think that was an order,” Lorne snaps, and John’s glad that he’s getting some of his own back as Koerber, Hayes, and Andrews snap to attention.

 

“Yes, sir,” they say in unison, snap off salutes and head towards the armory.

 

When they’re gone, Lorne begins, “Sir, I—”

 

“I hear you had a little trouble on your last mission,” John says, beginning to head towards the gym.

 

Lorne is forced to follow, and he says, “It was just—”

 

“Parrish is concerned about you,” he says.

 

Lorne flushes. “I’m _fine_.”

 

“Well, as long as you’re fine, I would suggest that you spend some time with Teyla,” John says. “You need to take some time to relearn your body, and your reaction times. Besides, the bantos are cool.”

 

“Sir—”

 

“I’d have insisted you take lessons before now, but I’ve had a few other things on my mind,” John continues as though Lorne hasn’t spoken. “You know. Like turning into a bug.”

 

He gives Lorne a sideways look, and sees Lorne’s lips quirk up. “I’d be happy to learn whatever I can from Teyla, sir,” Lorne finally says.

 

“Good answer,” John replies.

 

“I’m sorry about the mission,” Lorne says quietly. “I just—I’m not really used to this body yet.”

 

John weighs what he wants to say carefully. “You’re still one of the best XO’s I’ve had, Lorne.”

 

“With all due respect, sir, you haven't had that many,” Lorne says, although there’s a hint of smugness to his smile.

 

John just grins. “That's not the point. Teyla should be in the gym now,” he says. “Tell her I sent you.”

 

Lorne nods. “Yes, sir.”

 

John smiles. “Good man.”

 

When Lorne rolls his eyes—just a bit—John smirks.

 

“Yes, sir,” Lorne agrees.

 

John figures his job is done.


End file.
